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Chapter 1 Part 1 of Gates of Eidolon: Post-Continuum
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“Matron, tell me again about the world of man," The young woman looks up towards an elderly woman, youth's eternal curiousity embracing her fully.
"I will tell you again of why we seperate ourselves from them, why Mem and Fen remain serperate." The old matron starts, "We were once whole like the rest of the world, but within the world of man, woman is second. War, hatred, and segregation reign supreme no matter which god rules the pantheon, no matter what age it is."
"We look at the planet and see how it feeds us, nurtures us, as a mother matron. Man sees the world only as an object that is to be exploited to his own gains only." The matron spits at the ground, cursing the word of man. Long have the two tribes of Mem and Fen been seperate. Fen has been a place where women could hide from the land of man; giving in to a xenophobic and bitter view of the world, but in itself a utopia all the same.
"But Mother Matron, could there not be some who see beyond this? See the land for what it is? See beyond the barrier of man and woman?" The young woman asks carefully, as not to offend the Matron with her questions.
"No, not in my lifetime I'm afraid, not in my lifetime..." The Elder shakes her head in sadness, her weary eyes cast downward.
Meanwhile, across the globe, within the northern regions of the continent of Eidolon, a man stands within his lab about to make the most important mistake of his life. His experiment will enable him to explore the world in ways no one person can, but at the same time it will isolate him from the world he wishes to know better. This man, Doctor Shirk, is about to break down the final border of society, without even knowing it.
He is a man of science, and his experiment is testing the technologies of the ancient dwarves lost to the realm of mortal men. Doctor Shirk stands about 5 feet tall, as a member of the dwarven race; his ancestor's blood boils through his body. Destri by birth, he remains loyal to not one race of dwarves but all of them.
A whirling screetch stirs from the back of the room, energy shooting from coil to coil, boilers bursting with steam. The dwarf's lab seems unnatural at best. His assistant hobbles from phlange to burner to coil to tube, making sure everything goes well. The creature appears to be nothing but a corpse with coils and gears implanted into it.
“They laughed, they told me that there was nothing beyond the power of the pantheon... no secrets, no connections.” A glint of insanity sparks behind Shirk's eyes, “But I will prove that all creatures and races divulge into a single apex, a common origin.”
Amongst potions boiling, and gears spinning the doctor cackles, he takes one of the beakers and holds it skyward. “With this, I will be able to see the link, to see beyond my form into others. To see the connection between all things.”
Shirk's lips purse as he downs the chemicals that are held within the bottle. As the last drop reaches his lips his body starts to tingle. A little at first, then greater, until nothing seems stable. He looks at his hands, watching as they grow longer, the fingers more slender. Feeling the weight of his torso shift as his body grows taller and leaner.
Shirk races towards a mirror, but the image he sees isn't himself. Instead he now gazes upon a figure completely opposite of his former. A sleek and poised creature he is familiar with, a form akin to his elven collegues. Now female in shape, the doctor gives a scream at the realization of what had just happened, the realization that he has left his race and gender behind.
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“Matron Mother, how did we seperate from the world of man?” The young woman asks with a curiousity that borders on the dangerous.
“Mistress Njaci (note to reader, reads “n-Yaakee”) ruled over all before the Pantheon existed. Realizng she had grown tired of the mortal word, she gave this world to her younger siblings.” The elderly woman rambles, youth listening intently, “She saw the turmoil of man, but she allowed them to suffer. The first cataclysm came, Njaci stayed her hand, but after Ragnorak was destroyed she had to step in.”
“Njaci was so infuriated with the ways of men she separated a small colony of women whom were hurt by the world of man,” she continues, “Hence, Fen became a haven for lost women. But some of these women were with child; the girls stay here, much like you, but the boys are sent across the valley to Mem.”
The old woman sighs. “Now enough with the questions child, I need to sleep.” And with that the young woman watches as the elder retires to her hut for the night.
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Shirk stands in terror at the realization of his new form. None needed to know. So he takes a pen and begins to write. “Dear Citizens of Science, I have left my labs in capable hands to leave for Ragnorak. I have decided that we need to learn more of the world of the second age and will personally explore it. Signed, Shirk”
Realizing his clothes scarcely fit anymore and wishing not to be seen in this skin, Shirk cloaks himself (the cape reaching faintly to the top of his knees). Making his way to the docks, he boards a trade ship heading towards the continent of Ragnorak. The rolling fog gathers and mixes with the steam from the ship as it departs from Eidolon.
Next Week: A Dark God Rises, Conflict with Mem, A Monk with No Name.
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